Posted on 05/17/2004 8:20:19 PM PDT by yatros from flatwater
FORMER chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said that a shell containing sarin nerve gas used in an attack in Iraq was most likely a stray weapon possibly from the first Gulf War.
The US-led coalition used that claim to justify the invasion even though UN inspectors failed to make any significant finds before the war.
The former Swedish foreign minister said the 155-mm shell used to attack a US military convoy Monday could have been part of a group of old, unused shells that were simply debris leftover from the war in 1991, adding the weapon could have been scavenged from a dump.
"It doesn't sound absurd at all. There can be debris from the past and that's a very different thing from having stockpiles and supplies," he said.
"Whether this may indicate something more ... I think we need to know more about it."
Saddam's regime was told to destroy any weapons of mass destruction under UN resolutions passed after the 1991 war. Blix reiterated that his inspectors found no such weapons in the run-up to the invasion.
"We found a dozen warheads that were intended for chemical weapons and they were empty," he said.
His inspectors also found four other shells that were designed to carry chemical weapons, including the sarin used in the attack Monday, but they were also empty.
US Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said in Baghdad that two soldiers were treated for minor exposure to sarin, but no serious injuries were reported. He said he believed that insurgents who planted the explosive didn't know it contained the nerve agent.
Blix, former director of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, has sharply criticized the US and Britain for invading Iraq without UN approval. He retired last year and currently heads a new Stockholm-based independent commission on weapons of mass destruction.
Blix said today that the discovery of the nerve agent was not a sign that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction before the war last year.
This guy has obviously never been to the ballpark. The hotdog vendor carries his metal box with the buns in clear sight. Hans, you gotta lift the lid and look inside to find the dogs.
Very good question.
Hans Blix couldn't find his ass with both hands! Consider the source.
Extremly unlikely in the case of Blix. I a fascinated by the Blix-bashing here at Free Republic.
IMHO No evidence has been produced to prove Blix was wrong on any account?
The whole WMD discussion is moot since the invasion/intervention/pre-emptive action...
This explains why Blix couldn't find any WMDs.
Blix: "Oh, mortars filled with sarin gas..? Yes, we found lots of those, but no WMDs!"
Wasn't the "first Gulf War" and the current military operation THE SAME WAR?
Were they not simply seperated by a cease fire, contingent on phony UN "resolutions" in order to provide cover for a fraudulent world wide bribery scam known as "Food for Oil?"
Didn't many of the "legitimate" governments of the world take Billion$ in bribes, including much of socialist Europe, former communist Russia and still communist China?
Isn't this why "We no longer have the respect of the world" according to Ketchup Man?
Blix bashing?
He is an apologetic mouth for an evil regime- (2) EVIL regimes-
Saddam's and the U.N.! if another shell explodes and kills
some troops or Iraqis- he will apologize even more for
Saddam-
Then it will be the "resistance fighters produced the nerve
agent to fight the imperialist U.S. army"
...and the morning sun isn't evidence of daylight.
Let me help Hans out here. I think he's trying to say that the discovery isn't proof of a stockpile.
On the other hand, it certainly seems to be a very good sign of a stockpile. But I am not a lawyer; these subtleties are lost on me. Maybe I should have some one more sophisticated do my thinking for me.
Ask Hans what his opinion of us is.
Owl_Eagle
" WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH"
Blix is certifiable idiot.
But it's certainly cause to believe it precipitated.
-Eric
What Blix said was that sarin isn't evidence of "WMDs" - Weapons of Mass Deliciousness. Sarin tastes horrible, everybody knows that, and Hans was assigned to look for STAs (Supremely Tasty Armaments).No wonder Michael Moore was so interested in the search.
-Eric
I think he quite like the US and Americans...
He attended University in the US and sent his son to do the same etc.
Blix is either a moron or on the dole... either way, he is irrelevant.
Mike
LOL
Well, perhaps you should ask your neighbour or even two neighbours if it rained before you put a cap in the neighbour?
Maybe that's what the whole problem is ... Blixie doesn't know what the hell WMD's are!!
This is all you shall hear in The Media.
This is all The Sheep will hear.
And The Sheep shall believe, for they have received The Word.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.